The World Belongs To The 17-Year-Old Prodigy

Kate Scott (née Abdo) is responsible for inviting Americans into world soccer, and she is crushing it. It’s been quite a journey from Manchester to a seat next to Thierry Henry.

The future of NIL funding might be in live music. Red Dirt rockers Cross Canadian Ragweed are reuniting for a show at Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium to raise money for the school’s recruitment program. If everyone starts singing from the same hymn sheet, then Juilliard’s football team is about to be crazy.

Lewis Hamilton’s first campaign with Dior is all about snowboarding. Do you know how dangerous your day job has to be for snowboarding—and sometimes skydiving—to be considered your safe, offseason hobby?

The kids know what NBA media they want, and what they want is Zach Lowe. NBC and Amazon, get ready to make this man an offer.

MLB players are showing off their style with bold cleats, gloves, and sliding mitts, and now the custom gear industry is big business. The Phillie Phanatic has never looked better than he does on Bryce Harper’s shoes.

Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams had his star-making moment over the weekend, twirling free on the sideline to run for a dramatic touchdown against Georgia in the biggest game of the college football season thus far. This kid is 17.

Williams could still be in high school, but moved up a grade and reclassified his graduating class so he could enroll early at Alabama this spring. The move has already paid off big time—after Saturday’s monster game, his NIL value has nearly doubled to $1.5 million.

Somehow, Williams is not even the biggest 17-year-old star dominating. Cooper Flagg, who will make his Duke debut later this month, already has a shoe deal with New Balance and has posted up against the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis while training with Team USA earlier this year. His NIL value? A cool $1.5 million—and that’s before he’s ever taken a college court. He’s already got the pitchman thing down, too.

@cooperflagg

Embrace the grind, rise to the moments. A New Era is coming. Shop the collection at www.neweracap.com/college @NewEraCap #neweraambassador

Take things worldwide and the picture (and the dollars) suddenly get even bigger. Spanish wunderkind Lamine Yamal currently plays for Barcelona, and has a release clause worth $1 billion (with a B) should another team hope to poach him. Right next to Yamal on Barca’s roster is fellow phenom Marc Bernal, who is signed through 2026 and has a buyout clause worth $500 million. 

Younger still, is incoming Manchester City player Cavan Sullivan, who made his MLS debut at 14 years old for the Philadelphia Union this season.

@risingballers

POV: You’re 14 year old wonderkid Cavan Sullivan 🇺🇸💫 @cavan.sull #cavansullivan #ballers #risingballers #mls #mlsnext #football #adidas... See more

Meanwhile, the rich get richer on the USWNT with rising star Lily Yonhannes ready to join the already young team that is fresh off a gold medal performance in Paris. Triple espresso might have found themselves another shot.

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If you thought this year’s college football shake-up was something wild, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The group “College Sports Tomorrow,” wants to finally make the dream of a collegiate Super League a reality, inviting all 130 FBS programs to compete in one nationwide battle.

The College Student Football League would be built with two tiers: The top 72 teams would be split into 12 six-team subdivisions grouped by location, while the remaining 64 programs would make up a lower tier, with a chance at playing themselves into the top.

The idea of a college football super league has been floating around for a while, and appeared to get way more real earlier this year when a powerpoint detailing the potential project was leaked.

@adambreneman81

A pitch deck outlining the potential structure of a college football “super league” has been leaked. Here’s the most important thing you n... See more

Such a dramatic overhaul to the collegiate football system still feels like it is a long way away, but as the NIL era has already proven, college football can move faster than you think.